We can't promise you recess or toy cars, but the e-learning course on sustainable urban mobility is bound to give you a new vision for the future. Photo by sarflondondunc.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in partnership with the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) will run a new session of online courses on sustainable urban mobility in developing countries. The course will run from November 14, 2011 to March 2, 2012 and is intended primarily for decision makers and organizations working on sustainable transport systems.

“The rapid and often unplanned and uncoordinated growth of cities has seriously compromised existing transportation systems and significantly increased the challenge of creating future transportation systems especially in developing countries,” explains UNITAR. “It is indeed in developing countries that the greatest growth in motor vehicles has been seen in the past few years and is expected in the future, primarily in urban areas.” This increase in private motor vehicles, UNITAR adds, will have significant environmental and social impacts, which will directly affect the quality of life. Among the consequences of increased motor vehicles, congestion, energy consumption, air pollution and traffic crashes are only a fraction of the concerns. “Thus,” UNITAR continues, “urban transportation issues are of foremost importance to support the mobility requirements in these growing cities and require new approaches.”

The mission of the course is to enhance the capacity of local decision makers, as well as urban and transportation planners, to formulate and implement policies that contribute to the sustainability of urban transport in developing nations. The course will become a platform on which to analyze the issues of demand management, improved public and non-motorized transport, environmental protection, road safety and gender in the broad field of transportation. Furthermore, the course will provide decision makers with answers, solutions and alternative approaches in urban transport planning that achieve sustainable transport systems.

The course will follow six modules, each one designed to explore a smaller element under sustainable transport:

Module 1 – Urban growth and strategies for sustainable development

Module 2 – Municipal mobility management

Module 3 – Public transport services

Module 4 – Management, financing and institutions

Module 5 – Energy and environment

Module 6 – Safety and social issues

To learn more or register for the e-learning course, “Sustainable Urban Mobility In Developing Countries,” click here.